Ori and the Spirit Portal (Act 2)
by Banshee44
Summary: Well i honestly didn't expect this. My first part's view counter was bugged, and i think it was from too many chapters, so i will post 30 chapters maximum on each act. Here is act two of Ori and the Spirit Portal!
1. Forlorn Ruins

CHAPTER 30

FORLORN RUINS

Zander

We are standing in the freezing cold, mist forming in front of our mouths. We are at the door of the Forlorn Ruins. Ori and Sein look fine in terms of temperature, but I'm not resistant to extreme temperatures. One thing I found out is that the glowing mushroom residue that is on my clothes (it's still stuck in my clothes) is extremely resistant to high and low temperatures, but my face and hands were still exposed, so I had to improvise and make shoddy gloves and facemask with woven leaves, dipped in glowing mushroom residue. We found a type of tree with long skinny leaves which were soft to the touch, almost like the leaves on a young Sego palm bush. We harvested as many of those as we could without killing the plants and wove clothing out of it, keeping the rest for later. Now I'm running low on those since I made the gloves and mask with them (my bag is also made of the leaves). Not only that, but I look like a failed attempt at an "Ori Cosplay".

I pull the diamond shaped rock out of my bag and push it into the slot, and it springs to life. Flashing red with energy, and sliding open. A gush of freeing air flows out of the door, but my clothing paired with the residue resists the cold. I slowly walk in as to not slip on ice, and set foot into the ruins. Ori and Sein follow behind and look around with me. "Oh no…" Says Sein. I look over and I see it, the bodies of multiple Gumon. "They must have frozen to death when the element of warmth lost its light." Said Sein. I don't say anything, I just stare. It's sad, that they couldn't escape… "Does Gumo know? That he is the last of his kind?" I ask. "I'm not sure…" Said Sein quietly. I walked over to a curved steel wall to our left. It is glowing red for some reason. I pull my glove off and lift my hand in front of it, and I feel intense heat rising off of it. I step back and put my glove back on. "Don't touch the red steel, it's burning hot." I say. I walk away from the wall and turn my attention the other way. There are multiple burning platforms leading to a large area with something on it. I can't see it but it seems important. I shoot my hook at the ceiling and it bounces off, leaving a scratch on the ceiling. "Oh… everything in here is made of steel, you can't penetrate it. You're going to have to use your abilities." Sein says.

Great, the only method of movement that I'm used to is useless here. I pull off my hook and drop it into my bag. Might as well keep it off for the time being. I take a step back and I run, jumping over the first platform, double jumping before I hit the second one. I land on the very edge of the middle platform, almost slipping off, before Ori jumped and shoved me onto it. He walked over and helped me up. I brushed off the ice and rocks off of me and I thanked him, before inspecting this object. Suddenly I see Ori shiver out of the corner of my eye. "Hey, the cold doesn't affect you, what's up?" I ask. "S-something is in here with us. Something dark." He says. His eyes are wide open. "You… You're being serious right?" I ask. "Being serious? Why would I joke about something like this? This is completely serious." He says.

Great, now we have something else we have to deal with. I walk to the center of the area and inspect the glowing object in the center. "Huh, what is this doing here? It's light from the spirit tree contained within a container." Sein says. Suddenly it starts vibrating and bouncing around its containment area, before falling on the ground and losing its outer shell. I walk over and pick it up, it's surprisingly heavy for a ball of light. I hand it to Ori and it glows brightly, illuminating the area… well when I say illuminate, it almost makes a perfect circle of light around us, like the outer edges of a flashlight's shine. The area feels weird within the bubble. We start walking and as soon as the glowing red platform comes in contact with the bubble, it deactivates, cooling instantly. It's a kill switch, an object used to deactivate things. "Genius! The Gumon used this ball of light to turn off the heat on the platforms for safe travel. But the gravity inside of the bubble also seems… static." Says Sein. I have no idea what that means, but I keep it in mind.

Ori looks like they are having trouble holding the orb, but it is the only way to activate it. I pull my bag off of my shoulder and hand it to Ori. "Put it in this, it will be easier to hold." I say. He takes the bag and drops the orb into it, and hangs it around his shoulder. We make our way off of the middle platform and continue further into the ruins, and come across another curved wall. "I can climb this, but not with this orb on me, it's too heavy." Ori says. "Why don't you try to walk up it?" Sein said. "Excuse me… WALK up it?" I say. "Yeah, the gravity inside the orb's field is completely static, remaining upright with the host. Try walking up it." He just shrugged and walked towards the wall, and started walking up. He stopped about a couple feet up and looked down at us. "How does this even work?" He asked. "I have no idea, but as long as it works I don't care." Sein said.

I step back and jump onto the wall with Ori, which is extremely disorienting. Never in my life did I think that I would be switching in and out of separate gravity directions, and it is almost sickening. I regain my composure and we start moving up the wall, jumping from platform to platform. We get to the top and I jump outward, out of the bubble and onto another area. I land weird and fall to the floor. "Zander are you ok?" Sein asks. "Yep, just a little sick, changing gravity is disorienting." I say back. I look at Ori and they look like they have just seen a ghost. "O-Ori? What is it? Is it that thing?" I ask. "Yes… it's really close… I don't like this at all, we need to hurry up and leave." This is becoming serious, something is in here with us, and it's malicious. "Is it Kuro?" I ask. "No, it's smaller… much smaller, but much darker."

"I feel it to, we need to leave, we can do this later." Sein says. I nod and jump down to the lower level, rolling as I hit the ground. As I stand back up I see it, the thing Ori was talking about. Ori jumped down and got a look of it and began tearing up. "Ori… what is it?" I ask quietly. "It's him… it's YOU… from my nightmares." He says quietly, voice quivering. "Finally… I was wondering when I was going to meet you. Hello Zander, I… am you!" Said the demon.


	2. My Other Half

CHAPTER 31

MY OTHER HALF

Zander

My heart is pounding out of my chest right now. I am staring at a copy of myself, almost completely taken over by darkness. He is just standing there, staring at me… unblinking. I slowly reach into my bag and pull my hook out, fastening onto my arm, and pointing it at the demon. "I wouldn't do that if I were you…" He said in a distorted voice. "Why are you here?" I ask. "Hmm… fine, I guess you deserve an explanation… I am you… well your evil side… your corrupt side. During your travels to this world we were torn in half, one part light, one part dark. You made the transfer to Nibel while I was stuck in the grasp of space and time for years. Yes, Zander… years. I finally wriggled my way to this world, and realized something. We were attracted to each other, like a magnet and iron. When your friend learned of my existence, I decided to test something on them. I waited until they were asleep and I jumped into their dreams. It's incredible, being able to do anything I want… but it's also horrifying." He explained. Ori looked up at me and shrugged. "You… sick… bastard… you seep into other creatures dreams, attacking them where they are most vulnerable… where they can't defend themselves…" I say to the demon.

"That is not true, I did not do it as an act of terrorism, but to see how he would react. I had been fascinated with him ever since I first saw him. He is brave, but I believe what I did was a bit… excessive, and I do apologize for it." He said. "When you… attacked me, you were crying… is that why?" Ori asked. "That is exactly why. I may be evil, but I am as much of a monster as the next guy." He said. "So why are you here then?" I asked. "Oh yes, getting to the point… I have discovered that in about 4 days of time, the center mountain, Mount Horu, will erupt, leaving catastrophic and irreversible effects on Nibel. I cannot help you, for being near you will destroy both of us, but I will help from a distance." He said. "Why do you want to help us?" I asked. "Well, if you die, then I die. I also care about this world enough to want to prevent its demise. I have to go now, but before I do, I have to tell you something… for you to leave this world, and go back to your normal life back in the real world, we have to be at the spirit portal at the same time, or it won't work." He said.

Ori looked up at me. "You… don't want to leave, right?" He said. "No, not for a long time." I reply. "Ah and that is where the problem is shown. If we both exist in the same world, as two entities, this world will literally implode on itself, eradicating everything. The only way to bring our bodies back together, is to go through the spirit portal. So I give you this one question, would you rather keep this world fixed forever, or stay here for about a year, and kill everyone. It's your choice to make, not mine." He said, and walked out of the ruins. I stood silently… either stay and kill everyone, or leave, and possibly never see Ori again. I begin to tear up, but the time to choose isn't now, right now, the important thing is to save this world. "Come on, we have to do this before the mountain erupts. I can't make a choice if there is no world left can I?" I say. Ori is silent for a second. "Ok, let's go." He says, and we continue towards the Element of Winds.


	3. The Element of Winds

CHAPTER 32

THE ELEMENT OF WINDS

 **4 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Zander

The ruins have to be the worst place I've visited during my time in this world. Huge fiery lasers, bright burning platforms, spikes of ice, if it wasn't for my agility and the abilities I have gained while I was here, I would have died already. We climb up a narrow tube into a large opening, revealing a shattered circular stone plate. "Finally! We found the wind element!" Sein shouts. "It's about time we got out of here." She mumbles. "Do… do we need to escape quickly again this time?" I ask. "No, it shouldn't happen. This just brings the wind back, so I don't see any instance where we would have to quickly escape." She says. That is fine by me, I hated the Ginso Tree for that exact reason, and also having to STAB Ori in the chest. I pull myself up and climb onto a floating platform. I reach down and pull Ori up, and we continue to the frozen plate. Sein floats up close to the broken element, and is getting ready to break the ice. "Wait!" Ori yells. "What? What is it?" I ask. He reaches down and scoops up a handful of the steel making up the platform, and hands it to me. "Oh right, adding to our collection of stuff." I say. I take the blob of steel and drop it into the bag. I remember that I cannot stay here forever, and I tear up a bit, but keep my face pointed away from Ori and Sein, so I don't concern them. I blink my tears away and take a deep breath of the freezing air. "Let's do this." I say.

"Alright." Sein said. She moved back a bit and shot into the ice, disappearing within it. Suddenly the ice started to glow and vibrate, and then exploded with light, shattering all of the ice in the room. The element floated back together to form a circle and the structures around us began to spin, forming into large stone rings. It's really an amazing sight. The platforms and rings begin to vibrate, shaking off any ice forming on it, and the ceiling explodes, raining ice on our heads, as a huge gust of wind shoots upward from underneath us, and a gigantic pieces of ice crashes down around us, nearly hitting us. "SEIN, YOU SAID NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN!" I yelled over all of the noise. "This is all wrong, THE RUINS ARE COLLAPSING!" Sein shouts. A boulder of ice rushes past us, taking down the platform next to us. I reach down into my bag and snatch my hook out, shoving it onto my arm. I can't see what is above me from the constant shower of ice, but I shoot my hook upward anyway. The wire snags something and I shoot upward. Ori pulls out Kuro's Feather and the wind pulls them up. We battle for our lives vigorously while the ruins collapse around us, never to be seen again.


	4. Conundrum

CHAPTER 33

CONUNDRUM

 **3 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Zander

We've finally escaped the Forlorn Ruins. Hanging by a wire above the destroyed home of the Gumon. "Do… do you think Gumo can ever forgive us? Knowing that we live, but his kind doesn't?" Ori asks, floating in the air using Kuro's feather. "I'm sure he will understand." I said. I began pulling myself up, not caring about the serrated edges on the wire digging into my hands. I see a small cave opening above me, and I point towards it. "A cave, let's go and rest there." I say. Ori nods. We make it into the cave and I pull myself into it, and collapse onto the ground. My hands are bleeding and my clothes are ripped everywhere. My gloves are destroyed and I have no idea where my mask is. Ori falls down next to me. They look pretty beat up. This is the worst condition either of us have been in before. My hands are frostbitten and in pain. I struggle for a bit and create a soul link, slowly healing my body. Ori does the same, and we close our eyes to rest…

"Being here isn't a very good idea you know." My eyes pop open and I see my soul's other half standing next to me. "Hey… how long have I been out?" I ask. "A little over an hour." He replies. I sit up and look around. "Where are we?" I ask. "Come here, let me show you." He says. I push myself off the ground and follow him into the cave. Ori is still asleep. We go over a small incline and see an egg, as big as I am. "Is… is that." "Kuro's last child, yes. You have been sleeping in Kuro's nest for over an hour. You're just lucky she didn't come back during that time." Ori appears on the incline and slides down to meet us. His eyes lock onto the egg, but he doesn't say anything. He slowly approaches the egg and sets his hand on it. The egg begins to glow. "Kuro attacked because she was protecting her last child. On the night the tree called you, the light he released killed three of her children. Overcome with rage, she attacked and murdered all of the guardian spirits she could find, and stole Sein from the Spirit Tree." Said my other half.

"So… my kind unintentionally killed her children? It makes more sense now." Ori said. We stood silently for a while, then his head jolted left, eyes darting around. "Hey, what's up, is something wrong?" I ask him. "Kuro is coming, you need to leave, NOW!" He shouted. Ori panicked and began running to the other side of the tunnel, and I followed. We saw an opening and ran towards it, but discovered it was a very steep drop. "Dead end, what do we do?!" I shout. The sound of pulsing wind is becoming more and more audible, then Kuro lands at the mouth of the cave, spotting us. "Jump!" He shouts. "JUMP, I can't even see the bottom!" I shout. My other half turns around and sees Kuro moving towards us. "I'm really sorry about this." He says, and shoves both of us off the cliff. We fall through the mist below and the ground appears right before us. Ori slams into the ground before I do, but I break through a layer of ice, sinking into a pond. The water is freezing, and I instantly go numb. Ori sees me sink down and runs over, diving into the pond after me. Everything becomes warm and fuzzy, is my brain already releasing endorphins? I hear faint beeping in the distance, like medical instruments. He grabs me and pulls me to the surface, and drags me behind a boulder just before Kuro lands on the ground about 200 feet away. I begin to make a soul link, but Ori quickly waves his hands to stop me. "Don't Kuro will feel the light over here if you do, we shouldn't try to alert her." Ori whispers. I begin to gain feeling of my body back, and my back stings where I hit the ice, nothing is broken thankfully, but I am already really sore. I sit myself up and peek around the corner of the stone. Kuro is sitting there, looking for us, and doesn't look like they're going to stop any time soon.

"I don't think she will be leaving any time soon. We're gonna have to get out of here before she finds us." I whisper. "I was really hoping that wouldn't be the case, but I can deal with that. So what's the plan?" Ori asks in a quiet voice. I don't have a plan. Ori and Sein are usually the ones with a plan. I sit down and think for a moment, and begin examining the area. We have been through here before. We passed through to get to the Forlorn Ruins. I peek around the corner and look at Kuro, who is still looking for us. I wait for her to look away and I shoot my hook at a hollow tree opening, pulling me into it, and once again out of sight. Ori peeks around the boulder and then looks at me. I wonder if I could pull Ori to me using my hook. I fire the hook at the wall next to him and gesture him to grab it. "Won't that melt it?" He mouths to me. I shrug to him, and he grabs onto it. I look at Kuro and wait once again for her to turn her head. She looks away and I yank the hook back, pulling Ori across the frozen lake and to me. He lets go before he arrives at the tree so he could slow himself down (literally sliding across the ground) and prevent from slamming into the back of the tree. The hard part is over, now we just need to get out of here.

I look through a small hole in the back of tree and see another area we could hide behind, but there is a giant spider hanging from a single strand of web next to it. My heart starts racing, I hate spiders. "Come on, now isn't the time to be afraid of spiders, we have to get out of here. Ori bashes the wall, smashing it to pieces. Kuro jolts her head in our direction and squints her eyes. "Jeez, don't you think that was a bit excessive?" I whisper. Ori shrugs and looks at Kuro for a window of opportunity to move forward, and sprints into another rotted tree. I look at Ori for the "ready to go" signal. He stares at Kuro from around the corner and gives me a thumbs up. I sprint into the tree and stop at the far wall.

"What now?" I ask. Ori points upward, toward an opening atop the tree. Instead of using my hook, I just climb up to avoid catching Kuro's attention. As soon as I get up, a ball of some disgusting fluid flew over my head, hitting the back of the tree. The spider already knew I was coming up. I peeked my head over the platform, and saw a heavily damaged piece of wood, propped up against a leaning tree trunk, likely keeping it from falling down. I plan my movements and jump up, catching the spider's attention. The arachnid fires another ball at me, which I bash at the piece of cracked wood. The wood shatters, causing the hollow tree to fall, knocking down and crushing the spider on the way down. A path through the tree is revealed, closer to escaping. I gesture Ori to come up the tree, and wait for Kuro to look away. I take a step back and run forward, taking a long jump into the tree, and stumbling inside. The freezing cold water is making my hands numb. I shake away the agonizing feeling and press on. I climb up another tree and the first thing I see is another damaged wall. Hooray. This wall is made of concrete (of some kind) and looks a lot stronger. I pull myself up and hear a grunting sound behind me. I turn around and see some sort of glowing green ball shooting toward me. Panicking I jump up and bash it behind me, accidentally throwing it at the wall.

The wall shatters as the creature explodes, and Kuro's attention turned towards me and Ori. She squints at us and shoots into the air. Ori immediately starts running towards a cave, the one we entered from when we got here to get to the ruins. Ori makes it in, but the ceiling starts shaking, and I stop dead in my tracks. "ZANDER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, COME O-"Ori is cut off, as a giant boulder crashes down, cutting me off from him. "O-Ori?" I stammer. I hear the crashing sound of Kuro landing shortly behind me. I slowly gather the courage to turn around, and I see two eyes, glowing with fiery hatred (literal flames coming from her eyes). She gets close to me, almost touching my chest with her giant beak, her hot breath pushing away the cold.

After a couple of seconds she steps back, turns around and flies away, leaving me unscathed. I slouch against the boulder and slide to the ground, catching my breath. "Ori?" I say, tears forming in my eyes. I'm all alone… alone… alone… what a depressing word. I haven't been alone since I first got here. An unimaginable pain forms in my chest. My head falls into my hands as I sit alone, allowing the cold to rush into me, and take over my body.


	5. Second Dream

CHAPTER 34

?

?

"I've never seen anything like this, his body temperature has reached 47 degrees on its own, and not only that, but he is still alive."

"Heartrate?"

"20 bpm"

"Incredible, something is extremely different about this case."

"Can we rule out coma?"

"I don't know, something like this has yet to be recorded ever in medical history, you're still recording all of this, yes?"

"I am."

"Good. It's astonishing, he has experienced broken limbs and deep cuts for no reason, and in cases of certain death, and something just comes along and fixes him. Nothing we do affects him. Still recording?"

"YES."

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure you were getting this…"

"Can I come in?"

"Oh, Mrs. Osborn, yes you can come in."

"How is he?"

"Not good, he is still alive, but his condition keeps fluctuating."

"Doctor, his temperature and bpm are rising."

"Ok, well keep him under astute observation, we can't have anything hap… Wait… Something is happening."

"Zander? Zander what is happening to you?"

"Mrs. Osborn you have to leave right no-"


	6. Wakeup Call

CHAPTER 35

WAKEUP CALL

 **2 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Zander

My mind slips back into my body, something is keeping me alive against my will. The surrounding area is uncomfortably warm, compared to the previously cold weather. I take off my jacket and set it next to myself, eyes closed, as if I were slinging off the blanket on the morning of a school day. I slowly open my eyes and a pair of black eyes startle me. The creature jolts backwards as a throw my hands up to protect myself. It is not alone, there are four other creatures alongside them. They look oddly like Ori, despite some differences. They all nod their heads as that thought pops into my head. They can see what I'm thinking… better not make this awkward. "Are you guardian spirits?" I ask. A voice speaks inside my head. "Yes. And we know who you are. You are Zander, a creature foreign to this world. We know where you come from." I hear. "You… you do?" I stammer.

"Indeed. You know where you come from, but we know how you came here… and where your body in your world is." I hear. My heart jumps into my throat. "My… body?" I say slowly. "Yes… it pains me to tell you this, but only your spirit is here. In reality, your body is lying on a hospital bed in your home town… currently in a state of unconsciousness." I hear. My chest bleeds with pain. Everything I have seen, everything I have done… wasn't real? "Oh no, this is as real as your world is. Where you are now happens to be a realm above yours in terms of existence. Your spirit is here, the thing that makes humans… human. In reality, you exist more here than you do on Earth, in your world." I hear. That brings a bit of relief to me. "Do you know how I got here?" I ask. "The spirit portal brought you here, you already know that much. But on the night you got here, the elements and spirit tree thought that all was lost, and in self-defense, opened a rift in a separate world… your world. The rift opened in your home. The portal chose you of all people." I heard. I felt slightly flattered. "Well… I hate to ask, but how do I leave?" I ask.

"It is fairly simple, the three elements are sustained by the spirit tree, yes? Well the spirit portal, the only way in and out, is sustained by the three elements. When they are all cleansed, anyone in the portal will be transported to the world that they wish to travel to, real or not." I hear. I think for a moment, and remember my choices… stay and destroy the world, or leave and hope I forget this place exists. "Ori can't do this by himself Zander… he needs you now more than ever." I hear.

I push myself up and brush off my clothes. "Well… how do I get out?" I ask. They close their eyes and point their heads toward the skies. "We will help you… Besides, you already absorbed our light." I hear. I suddenly realize, they are the spirits belonging to the five ancestral trees we discovered. They turn into light and rush into my chest, knocking me onto the ground. I suddenly get a huge migraine. My body begins glowing brightly, and fades a small bit, lighting up the area. "You now have the soul and the courage a Guardian Spirit… feel the world change around you..." I hear. The cold air becomes nonexistent, like standing in room temperature. I don't feel scared anymore, I feel courage and determination. I push myself back up and pick up my jacket, brushing off some leaves and ice, sliding it onto my arms. I turn towards the boulder and stare at it, and remember… I still need to get out of this area.


	7. Bringing Her Back

CHAPTER 36

BRINGING HER BACK

 **2 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Gumo

They're around here somewhere, I remember this place! Running around Nibel with this huge orb is tough, but it is the best thing I can do for Ori and their friend, since they helped me. I owe my life to them now. Some time passes, time spent searching for the cave. There! There it is! I rush to the cave and peek into the entrance. Her body is still there, intact. I step inside the cave and approach her. I place my hand on her and raise the orb in the air, allowing the light to drain into her, through my body. The orb pops, losing the last of its light. Slowly, she opens her eyes. Her eyes dart left and right, obviously confused about being brought back to life. She sits up and stares at me. "Excuse me but… who are you?" She asks. "I'm Gumo, from the Gumon tribe. I'll bet you're wondering where Ori is." I reply.

"Yes, how do you know them?" She asks. "I met him in the moon grotto." I reply. "What? That place is too dangerous for them!" She says back. It was to be expected, it is a dangerous place to be in. "He is fine, he is with another creature… they are keeping each other safe." I reply. "Where is he now?" She asks. I take her hand and lead her out of the cave, to a cliff side, and point toward Mount Horu. "But… why there?" She asks. "Come on, I'll explain on the way." I say. I climb down the cliff and she follows, as we make our way towards the volcano.


	8. Helplessness

CHAPTER 37

HELPLESSNESS

 **3 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Ori

Never in my life have I felt so useless. I've been trying for hours to move this stupid boulder, pushing and bashing. My hands are red, and almost bleeding, and my throat hurts from shouting. Zander is trapped in there, and it is only a matter of time before he dies in there, from the cold, hunger, or lack of water. And for all I know, Kuro may have already killed him. My head is in my hands, and I'm sitting down, back up against the boulder. "Ori… you know what we have to do." Sein says. I don't want to go anywhere. It's Naru all over again. I find someone I really like, they are my only friend, and then they are ripped away from me… and I could have done something to save them both. I begin quivering anxiously. If Zander is still alive, I hope he can understand why I gave up trying to save him.

I push myself up and wipe the tears from my eyes. "Ori, he'll be ok. He has food with him. Not a lot, but if we hurry we could possibly save him, besides, cleansing Nibel is what he would have wanted." Sein says. I turn towards the boulder and put my hands against it, leaning my head on the rocky surface. "I'll come back for you… I promise… please don't die…" I whisper. I turn back around and jump above a thermal vent, using the feather I got to float up and out of the cave. With the wind flowing again, it should be a lot easier to get to the Sunstone, and Mount Horu.


	9. Crossed Paths

CHAPTER 38

CROSSED PATHS

 **2 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Zander

The Spirit Tree is smaller than I remember, but it's still gigantic. I sit on my knees, on a Spirit Well, the one Ori and Sein found me on. I close my eyes and begin to speak. "Hey… I know I'm probably just talking to a tree, but if you are there, I just want to ask-"

"Zander?" A deep voice speaks.

Is the Spirit Tree speaking to me?

"Turn around." One of the Spirits say.

I turn to see Gumo standing in the walkway leading here. "Gumo? What are you doing here?" I ask. "And how do you know my name?" "I followed you after I gave you the Water Vein in the Moon Grotto, and heard Ori call you 'Zander'. Speaking of which, Where is the little guy?" He asks. Recollection hits me hard. "We uh… were separated… I don't know where he is now, but he is heading towards Mount Horu to cleanse the last element." I say. "Oh no… He's alone?" A voice speaks behind Gumo. A large fluffy creature (presumably female) walks around Gumo, and we lock eyes. "You are Zander?" She asks. "Y-yes… I am. May I ask who you are?" I ask her. "Yes… my name is Naru." She says. Suddenly memories come back. She is Ori's mother, the one who died. He has no idea she's back. "Naru? Ori told me about you… how are you alive?" I ask. I immediately realize that's not something I should just ask someone, especially someone who WAS previously dead.

"He brought me back using the light." Naru said, pointing at Gumo. The light can bring back the dead? So he got an orb of light, and instead of using it on one of his kind… he used it to bring her back? It must have been hard to make that decision. "It seems like they're looking for Ori… maybe traveling with them would be the best decision to make right now, to help or protect them." A Spirit says. Maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea, besides I hate being alone. "Hey… can I come with you two?" I ask. "Sure, I'm sure Ori would want to see you again to." Says Gumo. I sigh with relief, knowing I can finally travel with someone. I get up and walk down the path toward Mount Horu.


	10. The Sunstone

CHAPTER 39

THE SUNSTONE

 **1 DAY UNTIL ERUPTION**

Ori

I struggle to hold onto the feather carrying me up the thermal vent to the sunstone. Never in my life have I felt more exhausted. I pass through a thin layer of smoke and ash, and sunlight hits my face. I haven't felt sunlight in a long time. Since the forest turned blind, the sky has been covered by a black cloud. I let go of the feather and fall to the ground below. "Come on, we don't have much further to go." Sein says to me. I nod my head and look toward the stone. I shield my eyes as intense light shines in all direction, brighter than the sun itself. I walk toward the sunstone with my hand up to block the intense light show. As I approach the stone, it breaks into pieces, suspending a single bright rock in between them. The rock slowly floats down, as if being carefully placed on the ground, as to not break or damage it. When the rock touches the ground, the shards of the stone smash back together reforming the sunstone, but with a neat hole in the center, in the shape of a diamond. "No wonder Kuro isn't up here, the Sunstone is radiating with the light she fears!" Sein exclaims. Well there certainly is a lot of light up here. I struggle to reach toward the stone, while covering my eyes with my other hand. Finally my other hand touches the stone and I pick it up. It's surprisingly light weight, for such a large rock. I run my fingers over the surface and feel multiple holes on the surface of the rock. The Stone dims a little, making it bearable to look at. It is in the shape of a perfect prism, despite being a naturally formed substance.

I slide the rock into a small makeshift bag. I learned how to weave the leaves of those weird trees from Zander, so I found a couple of the trees and turned the leaves into bag. Sure it doesn't look appealing but it works. "Ok let's go, we don't have much time left." Says Sein. I walk over to the edge of the mountain, toward Mount Horu. It's gigantic, bigger than the spirit tree. I crouch down and prepare a charge jump, and a deafening bolt of lightning explodes right next to the mountain, startling me. "Ori! Are you ok?!" Sein shouts. Well my ears are ringing, and I can barely hear, but other than that I'm fine. "Yeah, I'm ok." I reply. I decide not to jump into that area, to avoid getting struck by lightning, so I walk over to the hole I came from and look down into it. It feels uncomfortable to jump into something you can't see the bottom of, but frankly I don't care anymore. I take a deep breath and jump into the hole. Only one final step to cleanse Nibel. Everything will go back to the way it was. I just hope Zander is still ok.


	11. Mount Horu

CHAPTER 40

MOUNT HORU

 **0 Days until Eruption**

Ori

What happened to Nibel? A land once full of life, now reduced to… this. I've been standing in the gate to Horu for a couple minutes now, staring at the horrors that this land contains. Nothing but fire and lava, with creatures I have never seen before. I don't feel so sure about this whole thing anymore, but I have to. I take a step in and feel the ground. It's hot, but it doesn't hurt. I continue forward through the forest of fire and burning trees, trying to keep myself calm. I can deal with the cold, but this… it's a bit much. I keep walking until I reach a pit. Upon approaching it, a wave of heat hits my face, stinging my eyes and face. It's a pit of lava. Ahead is a structure, some sort of path leading to something? I take a step back and jump to the first platform. The heat burns, it's hotter than anything I have ever experienced. I land on the platform and quickly rush to the center, the coldest area on the rock. I take a couple breaths and jump to the next one. I repeat the process of jumping and cooling down a couple times before finally stopping on actual land. Even though it is still hot, the ground feels nicer than the burning hot rock platforms. I make my way down the path, trying to keep my attention from the burning forest. In the distance I see I triangular structure, a door… the entrance to the mountain. I stop walking and take a moment to stare at it. A week of challenges and obstacles and I'm not even ready for this. I slowly make my way towards the door, head pointed downward, and I finally reach the door. I wish I had the ability to jump back in time, so I could relive this whole experience, and not be here.

I gather up all the courage I have and pull out the Sunstone, and stare at the diamond shaped hole in the door. "Ori? Are you ok?" Sein asks. I stand motionless for a couple seconds and nod my head, despite being the OPPOSITE of ready. I slowly raise the stone and push it into the hole. The door lights up and begins shaking. I step back to watch the door open. The Sunstone shakes for a moment and shatters, opening the door. A wave of heat and debris spew out of the door. It hurts just to stand out here. But I came all this way, so I guess I shouldn't delay. I step into the door, and look around. It's even worse than outside. I hear a crumbling sound behind me, and I turn around, just to see another boulder fall from the ceiling… cutting me off from the rest of the world. I'm stuck in here until I cleanse the element of warmth. Better not the tree waiting.


	12. Detour

CHAPTER 41

DETOUR

 **0 Days until Eruption**

Zander

The door is already open, Ori has already been through here, so we're on the right path. I promised to try my hardest to protect Gumo and Naru, but that means I have to go first, so that's nice. I approach the door to the mountain and see the burning forest, we need to hurry. "This is getting worst by the second, we must hurry." Naru says. I walk through the door and continue down the path. The mountain is now clearly visible up ahead, there's still hope of doing this. We move quickly down the path toward the mountain, reaching multiple platforms… over a pit of lava. It feels like I'm playing one of those hardcore platformers. I step back and jump toward the platform, landing barely on the edge. There is no way Naru is going to make that jump, but a dead tree catches my attention. It's perfectly placed, just pull that down and make a small bridge. "Hold on I'm going to pull down that tree." I say. Naru and Gumo move over, and I fire a hook into the tree, and begin pulling. The sound of cracking wood is audable, and the tree begins leaning. It snaps off from its position and falls perfectly over the platforms, making a path to the mountain. I jump onto the tree and walk to the other side. Naru turns to Gumo and gestures him to go first. "You want to see him more, I can wait." He says. She nods her head, and climbs on the tree. Halfway through her turn on the tree, it begins to crack. The tree is about to snap.

She notices the cracking and begins running down the tree, jumping off near the end and landing hard on the other side, as the tree falls into the pit, along with the platforms. We were cut off from Gumo. "I'm ok! Just find Ori!" He shouts. He turns around and runs toward the door leading out of here. Naru waves goodbye and we walk down the path to the mountain. We finally get to the door, only to get another hit of disappointment. The door is open, but halfway into the mountain, a boulder blocks our way inside. Our only way to Ori is blocked. "Great, we were too late… DAMNIT!" I shout. Once again, everything we worked for, was ripped from us. "Calm down, I know another way in, but it will take a while." Naru says. "We don't have a while! The mountain is erupting TODAY, and look what it has done already! This whole area is GONE! What happens if it reaches the spirit tree? Everything dies!" Naru let me be. She knew that I needed to say everything on my mind. After shouting for a couple minutes I slumped down on the wall and let my head fall down. "Are you done?" Naru asked. I was quiet for a second, and let out a sigh. "Yes." I replied. "We can still get in, trust me, I know a lot about Nibel." She said, and began scaling the mountain. What is she doing? And how? I jump on the wall and begin scaling with her. "You need to trust her, besides, she's lived here longer than you have." One of the spirits say. "Yeah yeah, I know." I say, sounding like an annoyed teenager, which is probably what I am. Hold on Ori, we're coming for you.


	13. Fire and Brimstone

CHAPTER 42

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE

 **0 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Ori

It's hot, too hot. I can barely catch my breath, and with every breath I take my lungs fill with toxic air. It shouldn't kill me, but it hurts. Everything hurts. This may be a one way trip. The lava at the bottom of the mountain is slowly rising, and the only way to stop it is to block the lava at its source. This place was built with some sort of "deactivation mechanism" to get to the element of warmth, but I need to jump into danger just to block all of the sources of lava. Each area has a stone marking next to the door to explain the area (probably for identification? The beings who lived here were insane). My bag is gone, burned away, but there wasn't anything I needed in it. I'm trying to find another source of lava, and the stone marking next to this one was two wavy lines. I wonder what that means. Every one of the stone markings had a significance ranging from mapping to a hint as to what I was facing in there. I have no idea what this one is, and frankly I don't care anymore (I stopped caring about my wellbeing an hour ago). I'm thankful Zander didn't come with me in here, because he wouldn't have lasted more than a couple minutes.

I climb over a wall, and the first thing I see is a river of molten lava, flowing from underneath a stone island. In the center of the island there is an engraved stone cube, bobbing up and down for some reason. That must be the block to stop the lava. I jump over the wall and latch onto the other side, lifting my hand in the opposite direction to aim a charge jump. I close one of my eyes to aim myself towards the island and my body begins glowing. I bring my legs close to me and extend them as fast as I can, allowing my muscles and the light to fire me toward the small island. I land hard on the hot island, the toxic air is getting to me, and I'm beginning to have double vision. No! I have to do this! I push myself up and run towards the stone, jumping on it. It bobs up and down as I land. I charge jump into the air and smash down onto the rock, lodging it into the ground. The wall behind me begins to shake. "That… doesn't sound good." Sein says quietly. A crack appears near the top, then another, and another. Soon cracks cover the entire wall, and the sound of rumbling fills the room. A drop of lava falls from one of the cracks. Suddenly the wall explodes and I'm greeted by a massive wave of molten lava, with a desire to engulf me.


	14. Almost There

CHAPTER 43

ALMOST THERE

 **0 Days until Eruption**

Zander

We've been climbing for about an hour now, she's still going, and I'm about a hundred feet below her. Every now and then I jump back and grapple up close to her to catch up. She finally approaches a ledge, disappearing above it. I quicken my pace and reach the ledge, rolling myself onto it. I think I'm getting altitude sickness. I push myself up and stagger a bit, before Naru snatches me from the edge, to prevent me from falling off. Funny, I was supposed to protect HER. "You need to be more careful Zander." She says. "I know, I'm just getting a bit of altitude sickness." I replied. "What?" She asked. "Never mind." I reply. She leaves it at that and begins walking again. I take a second to regain my composure, make a soul link, and run towards her to catch up. Everything is silent for a couple seconds, and curiosity begins to get the best of me, and I finally ask. "How do you know Ori?" I ask. She is silent for a moment. "Well, one stormy night, I was sitting on the cliff side of Swallows Nest, where I live. And this glowing white leaf floats overhead, from the Spirit Tree. Immediately I started following it, out of curiosity. After a short distance, the leaf landed and flashed, revealing a small white creature, curled up and asleep. Ori. I was alone, and they had no mother, so I decided to raise them as my own." She said.

I was quiet for a moment, and asked. "What… what happened to you and him?" I asked. She was silent once again and let out a long sigh. We were living happily, nothing could change how we were, but one night Ori noticed something and went after it, without me noticing. The Spirit Tree was calling him. I finally noticed he was gone, and went looking for him. I walked around for a bit, and found him staring at the tree. I grabbed him and caught glimpse of the tree. I have never seen the tree lit up like that before. I ran to the cave with Ori in my hands, and I promised myself not to let him out of the cave… because I didn't want to lose him… I realize now that that was a mistake. The forest began dying and before I even knew it we were out of food, and I needed to get more, and I found one branch with fruit on it, but I couldn't reach it no matter how hard I tried. I went back to the cave empty handed. On my way back inside, there was one piece of fruit on the ground. I took it and gave it to Ori who was still asleep. I was so hungry but he had a longer life ahead of him than I did. I sat down to sleep and he tried to give it to me, but I refused and went to sleep. I guess that's when I died." She explained, and began tearing up. I decided to stop asking questions and looked away. An energy shard caught my eye, but I didn't want to seem uninterested in what she was saying, so I kept walking with her. She put her head in her hands and began sobbing. "Hey, don't be upset. None of it was your fault, this happened due to forces beyond your power… besides you did a good thing keeping Ori from the tree. If he had gone he would not have survived Kuro's attack, he wouldn't be here." I said. Suddenly, something resonated within me, one of the spirits are in distress. "ZANDER, ABOVE YOU, LOOK OUT!" The spirit shouts. I look up to see a boulder speeding downward, and Naru is in its path. "NARU!" I shout. Acting fast I shove her out of the way, putting me in the boulders path.


	15. Crimson

CHAPTER 44

CRIMSON

 **0 DAYS UNTIL ERUPTION**

Zander

My head is pounding, my ears are ringing, and dust lingers in the air around me. Where am I? The dust settles and I'm hanging by something by the cliff wall. I must have fallen off. Below me a boulder falls into a pit of lava, splashing it everywhere. I notice blood soaked on the left side of my shirt, and I look up and see what I'm hanging on. A sharp branch stabbed through my arm, below my elbow, and cut all the way down, leaving a long hole from my elbow to my wrist. Blood is flowing down my arm, completely covering it. I move my head and look through the newly formed hole in my arm… weird. "Zander! Don't move I'm coming for you!" A voice calls. I look up to see Naru scaling the wall toward me, reaching for my hand. I try to raise my right hand to grab hers, but I'm too weak… and tired. "ZANDER, REACH FOR MY HAND!" She shouts. I muster up all the strength I have and throw my right hand toward hers, and she grabs hard, pulling me up. The branch in my arm breaks off and comes up with me. She lifts me up to stable ground and checks my wound. "You were hit by the boulder, and it knocked you off the edge of the mountain, but a branch impaled your arm, keeping you from falling." She said. The pain finally sets in, numbing all of my senses. I hear faint beeping in the distance, getting faster and faster, and the sounds of muffled shouting is audible, then everything goes black.

I awaken in a cold and dark world. Ash falls from the air and black clouds cover the sky. I push myself off the ground and cough. My lungs are full of ash, and debris. I stand up and breathe warm air into cupped hands, and call his name. "Ori!" I shout. I hear a moan in the distance, and I instantly seek out the source. Upon turning a corner I see Ori, lying in the ash, face down. "Oh no." I run to Ori and carefully flip him on his back. Claw marks cover his chest, each oozing with a black liquid. He slowly reaches for my hand and then his arm goes limp, as the last of his life leaves his body. "Ori?" I touch his chest. There's no pulse. "Zander!" A voice calls in the distance. It isn't Ori's voice. "ZANDER!" I wake up slumped over Naru's shoulder. "What? What's happening?!" I shout. "The volcano's erupting! If we don't find Ori soon, the forest is going to burn. Nibel will die!" She yells. The vision I just had… if we don't fix this that could actually happen… I can't let that happen. I look down at my arm, which is firmly wrapped with the clothing from my shirt. She must have torn my shirt to stop the blood on my arm. My once blue and white striped shirt is now completely blood stained. "Ori?" Naru shouts. "What?" I say. I look up and see Ori standing on a log, staring at the distant Spirit Tree. He steps back and jumps toward the tree, pulling out his feather to glide. He's going toward the tree. Suddenly Kuro comes out of nowhere, snatching Ori out of the air, and slamming him into the ground. "ORI!" I shout. I push myself off of Naru's shoulder, and land on the ground, immediately collapsing. I've lost so much blood, I can barely stand up. "NO!" I scream reaching for him. Naru reaches down for me and I reject her help. "No, I'm fine, help him!" I say. She nods and begins running to him. I try to crawl towards them, but I'm too weak to move.

I try to reach for them but I can't. All I can do now is watch Naru risk her life for the one she loves. She picks him up and looks at his face. He isn't responding. I hope he's just unconscious. Everything starts fading out. I can't be dying yet, I'm not ready. Darkness fills my eyesight like black liquid, then everything goes quiet.


	16. Zander

CHAPTER 45

ZANDER

Ori

Something awakens me, the touch of someone I know. I open my eyes and see her. "Mom?" I say. Her eyes fill with tears and she pulls me close, embracing me. I haven't been in her arms in so long. "Am I dead?" I ask. She laughs softly. "No, you aren't dead. You did it, you cleansed Nibel!" She said. I did it? I look around at the forest, which is already turning green from growing vegetation. The forest is back to the way it was. "Wow, the forest looks so much nicer from up here… how did you get here?" I ask. "Well, your friend found me and brought me here… but…" Suddenly her expression changes, she looks sad. She looks to her left and I follow her eyes to… him, lying on the ground, chest down… unmoving. "Zander?" I say, hoping for a response. I wriggle out of Naru's arms and move toward him. "Ori… he tried to protect me… but… it happened so fast." Naru said. I approached Zander and knelt down. "Zander, please say something." No response. I reached down and touched his bare back. He was cold. "Zander, please..." tears welled up in my eyes. "Zander… don't be…" I put both of my hands on his back and shook him. No response. I look over at his arm, covered with crimson cloth. I touch it, leaving a red liquid on my hand. I slowly move some of the cloth, revealing a giant hole in his arm. I instantly look away. "You… you can't be… dead… not now, please! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"

After everything we've done, to cleanse Nibel, and to get him back to his world… He's gone… Naru walks up behind me and puts her hand on my shoulder. I slump down beside him, sobbing. It isn't fair… "We… we did everything right Zander… we did everything we were supposed to… I guess everything we had wasn't enough." We sat silently around Zander for a while, then Naru picked him up, holding him gently. "Come on, let's take him to the Spirit Tree." She said. She began walking down the path to the Tree, and I slowly followed behind. He can't be gone… not after everything we went through… there has to be something we can do to bring him back… there has to be a way.


	17. Second Wind

CHAPTER 46

SECOND WIND

Ori

Nibel doesn't seem as cheery as it used to be. Even though the forest is growing back, and all the trees shimmer with different shades of green and glowing white leaves, not having Zander around kind of ruins it for me. Every now and then I'll look at him, just hoping that he'll open his eyes and look at me… haven't had much luck. The dead tree in the center of the Hollow Grove is finally growing some leaves and other short branches, but I think that may be from other trees seeds getting in between the cracks. "Ori, how are you holding up?" Naru asks. "Not well. I just can't stop thinking that I could have… prevented this." I say glumly. "Stop blaming yourself for this… it could have happened to anyone but… it happened to be him." She said. We finally approach the doorway to the Spirit Tree, and a greeted by a Guardian Spirit, they look fairly old. They raise their hand to greet us, and see Zander in Naru's arms. They slowly lower their hand and approach Naru, still looking at Zander. Despite not even knowing him, they still look sad. Then, their expression changes… They look, intrigued. They place their hand on Zander's forehead and close their eyes. "What's happening?" I whisper to Naru. "I thought you would know." She whispered back. Suddenly, Zander's body flashes and begins glowing. The Spirit backs up, astonished, and gestures us to follow him. Hope begins to show itself. Naru and I run with the Spirit to one of the Spirit Wells, the one we found Zander on. He points at Zander, and then at the Spirit Well, gesturing Naru to place him on it. She slowly lowers him down on the stone circle, and backs up.

The spirit walks up to Zander and places his hands on him, and then looks up at me. "Ori?" The spirit says. "How much do you miss your friend?" I answer immediately without even thinking. "I… I don't think my life will be the same with him dead." The little spirit looks back at Zander and nods his head. "What if I told you, that I could bring him back?" He says. My heart skips a beat, there is a way to bring him back? "Wha- how? You can do that?" I say. "Yes… but it would require the light of another spirit, a sacrifice." He says. A sacrifice? I could never ask anyone to give their life for my own sake. "I… I couldn't ask you to-"

"I'm not looking for you to ask me… I just know you love him." He says, cutting me off. He crawls onto the Spirit Well, opposite of Zander's body, and he lies down. Glowing flowers begin blooming around the base of the Spirit Well and spread to the base of the Spirit Tree, surrounding it. As soon as the flowers fully surround the Spirit Tree, they begin to pulse with light, like a heartbeat. "Wait, before you do this, can you please tell me your name?" I ask. He lays silent for a moment, then he answers. "My name… is Abjor." Suddenly his body shatters into glowing shards, which begin to surrounding the Spirit Well. Where his body was, there is now a glowing sphere. The sphere slowly floats above the Well and flashes, disappearing and creating an aura around Zander's body, which slowly fades away. The flowers around the Well begin to fade away, along with the rest surrounding the Spirit Tree. I run to the Well and jump onto it, approaching him. "Zander? Are you there? Please say something!" I yell. There's no response for a couple seconds, then slowly, his eyes open, and he looks up at me. "Ori?" He says with a raspy voice. I break into tears and throw my arms around him. He's back… "What? Are you ok? Why are you crying?" He asks. "No reason… I just miss you." I say back. "Why? I was only taking a nap… I think… why are we at the Spirit Tree?"


	18. Moment of Peace

CHAPTER 47

MOMENT OF PEACE

Ori

"So… I died… on Mount Horu." Zander said. We've been sitting on a log watching the Guardian Spirits come in, being born… it's kind of weird. "Naru said you were hit, and knocked off the cliff… but you were caught by a branch that stuck you in the arm. You bled out." I said. He looked down at the cloth on his arm and pulled it off, revealing a fresh scar. It must have healed when he was brought back to life. "Hey! Where's my grapple hook?!" He exclaimed. I looked at his arm and realized it had disappeared. "I don't know." I replied. "Crap, it must have fallen off while I was on the mountain." He said, looking back at the now tranquil Mount Horu. While we were distracted a young spirit guardian walked up and sat on the log between us and leaned against Zander. He looked down at them, and then back at me. "Uuh…" He didn't know what to do, so he just put his hand on their head. "This is so weird… I'm going to go through life now knowing that this world, these creatures… and you all exist. And I doubt I can tell anyone without sounding like a madman." He said, stroking the little spirit's head. We sat silently for a while, watching the spirits come in, and then he stood up and began walking towards the doorway to the Sunken Glades. "Hey, where are you going?" I ask. "I'm taking a walk, want to come?" He asks. I jump off the log and run to him. "Where to?" I ask. "I don't know… see Naru one last time, to say goodbye… maybe to see some places once more… never had a chance to actually explore while we were trying to save Nibel." He said. Now that I think about it, I haven't gotten a chance to explore either. We walked for hours, chatting, and laughing together, sharing stories and talking about anything, and finally I realized… I didn't have to worry anymore.


	19. Departure

CHAPTER 48

DEPARTURE

Ori

We walked around Nibel for almost a whole day, seeing familiar places restored, visiting Naru and watching Kuro's egg hatch (apparently she got the egg and promised to raise them, hopefully they don't destroy the Spirit Tree like their mother did), and just doing whatever. Zander sits next to me, legs swinging off of a fallen tree, positioned between two cliff walls, making a tree bridge. "Ori, it's getting late… I'm going to have to go soon." He said. "Yeah, I know..." I replied. He stands up and slowly starts walking to the Spirit Tree, which is fairly close by. As we passed the tree and approached the Spirit Portal's location, something began feeling… off… I think Zander's other consciousness is somewhere around here.

"We messed up Zander…" A voice speaks from above us. We look up and see his other, dark half sitting on a tree branch. "What do you mean 'we messed up'?" Zander asked. "Your body, you have five spirits in you, five different minds, and yours… I won't be able to go back with you." He said. "What? Why?" Zander asks. "Those spirits are stuck within your body, so if you were to go alone, you'd be just fine, and if we went together, we wouldn't even fit in your body… but if I went alone, there wouldn't be enough brain power to do anything… basic motor functions would be impossible… I couldn't stand living like that, so I have a solution." He said. He slid off the branch and landed on the ground, and walked through a thin underbrush, revealing a cliff edge. "Wait what are you doing?" Zander asked. He walked to the edge and turned around, looking directly at Zander. "I won't be able to go with you, and this world will destroy itself if I stay too long. So I'm taking the easy route out of here. Later guys." He said. He extended his arms outward, closed his eyes. "WAIT!" Zander shouted, and rushed to the edge to try and stop him, but he wasn't fast enough. His dark half fell backwards, and off the cliff, and disappeared below the tree line. Suddenly, I felt a dark force leave the world… he was gone. Zander stood for a moment, shocked at what he just saw, and slowly walked away from the edge and back into the forest.

Suddenly a bright light flashed close by, and in it spawned a large white stone platform, with four steel pillars in the four corners. The Spirit Portal. We stood there, staring at the structure… this is it. I hear sniffling next to me, and I look at Zander, who is rubbing the tears off his eyes. "I'm… I'm not ready to say goodbye… I'm not ready to leave you and this world behind… I… I…" He sobbed. I didn't know what to say, so I just jumped up and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and sat down. "I don't want to go yet…" He sobbed. "I know Zander, I don't want you to go either." I said. I promised myself I wouldn't be upset when he left… I'm having a hard time trying not to break that promise. After a while he stood up and kissed me on the forehead, and set me on the ground. He walked to the large square platform and stood in the center of it. The four steel pillars began to light up and shot a beam at Zander, making a bubble of light around him. He turned to look at me, and waved, saying something… but I couldn't make it out. Suddenly the bubble exploded in a brilliant flash of white and bright blue, momentarily blinding me, and when I regained my sight I saw that Zander, and the portal… were both gone.


	20. Back Home

CHAPTER 49

BACK HOME

Zander

I slowly wake up, my head is pulsing with a terrible migraine, and a bright light flashes simultaneously in both of my eyes, a doctor's flashlight? I regain sight and the first thing I can see is a blurred figure, my mother's face. Her face is wet with tears and she is saying something but I can't hear anything. Slowly after a while of commotion and whatnot I finally begin hearing, just barely though. I'm back on Earth again. I honestly didn't expect the ride back to Earth to be that gut wrenching. A doctor appears in my view and holds up a pad of paper, with a question on it: "Do you remember anything?" And two answers beneath it, yes and no. I can't move my body parts yet, so I just barely nod my head. The doctor nods his head with me and walks out of my view. After what seems to be a couple hours, I regain feeling in all parts of my body, and I can hear and see just like I used to. The doctors explained to me how they had no idea how the injuries on my body got there, and I went along pretending I didn't know either. After a while they told me and my mom that I would need at least another day in the hospital before I could go home, even though I was feeling fine, but I just agreed to it anyway. Time passed, and 9:00pm rolled around, and the nurses recommended that I go to sleep so I could wake up early tomorrow to go home. After an hour or so of struggling to sleep, I finally fell asleep.

My eyes pop open, and I look around the room, as if I was awoken by a loud noise. Suddenly a bright orb appears over my bed, a rift from the Spirit Portal. All of the electronics in the room instantly shut off (including the night light) leaving me in a dark room with this rift. The rift pulses and disappears, and in its place lies a familiar looking leaf woven bag, floating in midair. The bag falls onto my lap, and I feel something heavy in it. I open it up, and inside lies a piece of wood, a hunk of steel, a chunk of volcanic rock, and a single scratched up grapple hook.

Spirit Tree

 **From the way it looks, their story is over. Zander made it back home and Ori is safe with others of his kind. This is where I say "The End" and you go on to find another fanfiction. But you have yet to realize that the end… is never truly the end.**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	21. Author's Note

NOTE FROM BANSHEE44

I just want to say, thanks for inspiring me to do something! I never do much since I'm always interested in gaming or other useless activities. I was casually browsing Steam one day and saw it. Some game called "Ori and the Blind Forest". I though it sounded pretty dumb, but the thumbnail for it looked cute so I looked into it. I saw the trailer and thought "Holy shit, I HAVE to look into this!" I watched Cry and Bowlingottershow (check them out, cute couple youtube channel) play through the game, and I was hooked with it instantaneously. A couple months later, I was in creative writing (good because it's what I like, bad because my teacher is very bad at her job) and then a couple weeks after that I was writing Ori and the Spirit Portal. I honestly didn't expect to finish it, but I'm glad I did. Once again, thank you for inspiring me to do something!

SPECIAL THANKS:

Friends

Family

MoonStudios (can't fully explain, but they were so helpful)

Fanfiction community

And to anyone who supported me,

THANK YOU

 **P.S.** Still need help with artwork for this, because I AM making this into a book using the fair use doctrine.


End file.
